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Ashford Woman Going On Trial In Son’s Overdose Death

KILLINGLY, Conn. (AP) _ A Connecticut woman charged with manslaughter in her son’s overdose death is going on trial, nine years after being acquitted of manslaughter in a car crash that killed a prominent businessman.

The trial of 42-year-old Heather Specyalski (speck-ee-AHL’-skee) of Ashford is scheduled to begin Monday in Danielson Superior Court.

Prosecutors say Specyalski knew her son, Brandon, had consumed alcohol and morphine before he died in 2008, but didn’t seek medical attention until after finding him unresponsive hours later. She denies the allegations.

Specyalski was in a 1999 car crash in Cromwell that killed Neil Esposito, a prominent Republican campaign contributor. Authorities initially said Specyalski was driving.

But a jury acquitted Specyalski after her lawyer raised the possibility that she was performing a sex act on Esposito while he was driving.